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There were a lot of questions surrounding the rumored iPhone 6 display resolution. A few had well-reasoned extrapolations based on conjecture, but ultimately we had no idea. Now that the hardware is public and our iOS 8 SDKs are gold master, we finally have the numbers. And…. they’re not what we expected.

Yup – 3x graphics are there for the iPhone 6 Plus, but by the time those images hit the screen, they’ve been down sampled by about 15%. I’m sure the 6 Plus screen looks absolutely delicious, but I can’t imagine what that scaling factor is actually going to look like. Or maybe I do. Having owned a retina Macbook Pro, I’m familiar with scaling on the retina display. It’s actually hardly noticeable. Maybe if I get up close I could see some sort of issue, but I haven’t yet.

We have higher resolution on-screen now, but the UI should be about the same size as it always has; it’s important to Apple that touch just works.

Today’s Apple event flew by, and for good reason – it was jam-packed full of some goodies.

iPhone 6, 6 Plus

I hate to say it, but I think the iPhone 6 is the least interesting piece of news from the Apple Event. But, that doesn’t mean these are un-interesting devices. Of course, we’re all excited about having a larger screen (I hear you, Android fans). The specs look great – full sRGB gamut, wide viewing angles. The camera also received some nice bumps: new image stabilization & autofocus improvements, better sensors, etc. Processor, GPU… all what you would expect from a next-generation phone. I think the design is nice, but nothing extraordinary. Maybe I’ll feel differently once I get my hands on one.

Apple Watch

Technically Groundbreaking? I wouldn’t say so – there have been other smart watches before it. Groundbreaking in the way Apple does things – yup. It’s clear Apple spent a ton of time on the user interface – both software (panning, tapping, etc) and hardware (crown, buttons, etc). As pointed out in the presentation, there are metaphors that we’re used to on a phone that won’t work on the watch. Pinch to zoom was one of them. This is where Apple shines – by practicing restraint (cue the “thousand ‘no’s for every yes quote).

I’m eager to see the Watch SDK. Even with the minimal features they demonstrated on stage, I can think of numerous applications complemented by the Watch.

Apple Pay

This was the most recent / late-to-the-game rumor to come out, but it’s brilliant. This, I believe, is where Apple has the most room to disrupt an industry. Sure, the watch is pretty cool, but that seems more an evolution on how things are done. With Apple Pay, we’re now moving away from plastic as identifier to biometrics and person as identifier. I suspect Android solutions will be close behind (even Google’s failed attempts at Google Wallet), which when taken together as a whole, represent a monumental paradigm shift in how we pay for things. I particularly like the focus on the payment transaction – *beep* paid for. All the payment source is kept secret from the retailer (so some scoundrel waiter doesn’t swipe your CC at the restaurant), and Apple doesn’t care to know what you purchased. Apple as opposed to Google and Amazon, is not in the advertising business, and they keep driving that point home. Your information is safe with us. Given Apple’s consistent approach to protecting consumers (e.g. AppStore), it’s a believable (as in trustworthy) statement.

Overall, a great announcement. There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. We’ll see how this has all panned out in a year. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m greasing up my card for a new phone and watch purchase.

The new iTunes Connect has only been out a few days. Overall, I think it’s probably better than the old version – there are just a few things to get used to. It seems there’s a noticeable lack of communication within the new web app – enough that I filed a couple of bug reports.

Two surround the situation where you have uploaded a binary to iTunes connect. The first issue – you are not allowed to re-upload a binary with the same version and build number. However, there is no way to remove the old one. The second is a little less obvious: Uploading the new binaries will place them in a “Processing” state with no indication about what is happening. Fearing something had gone wrong, I tried the upload a few more times with different build numbers & formats – all went to “Processing” with no icon – only the version, build number, and upload timestamp. None of them were available to select so I could submit for App Store review. Xcode said everything was OK, Application Loader said everything was fine. An hour later, all four builds were processed. Thanks, I guess.

No matter the technical process, there are a few key points of communication they missed out on:

There’s no indication what “Processing” actually does, or how long it should take. Minutes, hours, days?

I’ve noticed something obvious about popular music — it’s almost never instrumental. There’s always a human voice singing a melody. We humans love human voices.

That’s what we get from indies that we don’t get from corporations. We get that human voice and the emotional connection that goes with it.

Knowing that I’m using software by individual developers or small teams, creates a special connection to real people that doesn’t come from the likes of Photoshop, Office, or any other Large Corp application. Indies, and those who wish they were, care about things like craftsmanship, creativity, human connection, dedication to the process, and the ritual. We are feeling the collective pang of defeat little-by-little as it all seems to slip through our fingers. Holding onto the “Indie” hope is becoming more like grasping the sand – we don’t quite know what to do as it slips through our fingers. If nothing is done, we’ll be left holding nothing.

I don’t mean to be doom and gloom. I think there is plenty of work out there – some of it rewarding. It’s just that doing your own thing, on your own product, on your own schedule is a dimmer possibility than it seemed in the past. I don’t think it has to be over.

So by all means – get a job or consult, if that’s what keeps the lights on. Spend your free time doing what you love to do. Create. Craft. Build & Run. Nobody is saying you have to do it full-time to be a success. Success is paying your bills, savings, taking care of family, and may more things. Icing on the cake is making great things for people so their lives can be just a little bit better – because you stepped up to the plate and made it happen.

It seems July 2014 may go down as the month when we realized being an indie (iOS) developer is no longer feasible. It’s not that something suddenly happened, rather, we collectively realized the same thing: there’s no way to make a living doing this. Rather than making a living off of developing one or two apps, we need to find another source of income and do this on the side. It’s the only way.

Here are some recent posts by notable developers in the community. They hit on a few different woes, and points. Some implore we approach this whole thing from another direction.

I fall right in line with many of the experiences expressed in the aforementioned links. In the early days of Pivotal Action, we were starry-eyed at the possibility of creating something great that people liked, with the “reasonable” hopes of being successful. We started off with Completion, and later went on to work on a new project, Pixd, that never shipped (though it was close-ish). By the time we more or less gave up on Pixd, I think we had realized the return on our time investment was unlikely to pay off. Even as the dust was still settling with Completion, we knew we couldn’t quit the consulting side of the business – it was paying the bills.

Logic Pro X is a Major with a capital M update to their professional audio editing suite. It appears to represent a significant investment in both time and resources. So how is it being sold, especially to people who already paid $200 for the previous version Logic Pro 9? It is a separate app download with a full cost purchase. No upgrades, no introductory pricing, just straight forward sale.

I’d say that this is the best indication of Apple’s intentions and expectations for the App Stores going forward.

I know people are offended by the pricing, but the reasonable side of me wonders how they can be so offended. Perhaps the “race to the bottom” on the mobile side has poisoned us into believing software should be very cheap (or free).

Logic Pro X is a Major with a capital M update to their professional audio editing suite. It appears to represent a significant investment in both time and resources. So how is it being sold, especially to people who already paid $200 for the previous version Logic Pro 9? It is a separate app download with a full cost purchase. No upgrades, no introductory pricing, just straight forward sale.

I’d say that this is the best indication of Apple’s intentions and expectations for the App Stores going forward.

I know people are offended by the pricing, but the reasonable side of me wonders how they can be so offended. Perhaps the “race to the bottom” on the mobile side has poisoned us into believing software should be very cheap (or free).

So, Samsung is offering $4M to developers to write apps for the Tizen platform. The kicker – Tizen isn’t Android. It’s a linux-based mobile OS that focuses on hybrid web technologies, much like WebOS.

Let’s put the news into some perspective:

Samsung is undisputedly the largest Android mobile vendor

They’re reliant on Google for Android development

Tizen can run Android apps

Samsung hardly mentions “Android” on their consumer-facing websites

This is a great opportunity for them to build an independent platform and be in control of their own destiny. From the business standpoint, this makes strategic sense to become a new market leader, though it’s hard to say whether or not this will end up being a good idea.